(This go-round of Open Threads, I’m taking a picture of my DVD/Blu-ray collection and showcasing one movie or TV show from the image, however embarrassing.)
I have no idea when I got the complete series of Manimal (if I had to guess, I’d say I bought it myself during Birthday Drunk Amazon [witness the complete series of MacGyver, to the right in the photo and my first Birthday Drunk Amazon purchase]), but I have no regrets.
Okay, fine, the mere fact that Roux is so excited I opened this cabinet for the first time in her existence speaks to why I should have some regrets.
Manimal, starring Simon MacCorkindale (yes, MacCorkindale), is a short-lived 1983 TV show about a man who — brace yourself — turns into animals. It’s honestly pretty amazing. The opening scene of the first episode features a taxi cab driver who characterizes the protagonist’s shift into a panther as “a bad case of asthma, mister.”
Check out the opening titles:
That font alone!
The show is not good, but I love it, and it’s worth watching if only for the sheer WTFuppery.
Okay, it’s pretty racist in that the premise is that Dr. Chase (the very white, British protagonist) learned the art of transforming into animals in Africa, but Stan Winston helmed the special effects, and guest stars included Ursula Andress, and it’s just such a very 80s time capsule, for better and for worse.
“Manimal.”
Have a great Day Thread, Avocados!